Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, alongside his partners in the INDIA bloc, voiced strong opposition against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), highlighting its perceived dangers and implications.
Kejriwal termed the decision “very dangerous” and emphasized that the government's allocation of resources towards accommodating Pakistani immigrants could hinder the development of both families and the nation itself.
"After ruling the country for 10 years and just before the elections, they have to talk about the Citizenship Amendment Act. If you had done some work in these 10 years, perhaps you would have asked for votes on your work instead of on CAA. It means that a large number of minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be brought to our country, and they will be employed and settled here. The youth of the country are not being given employment by the BJP government. Many people of India do not have houses but BJP wants to bring people from Pakistan and give them houses here," he said.
He criticized the timing of the government's focus on the CAA just before elections, suggesting that a decade of governance should have been sufficient to demonstrate achievements worthy of electoral support. He also expressed concerns about the potential influx of minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, questioning the government's ability to provide employment and housing for them while citing existing challenges faced by Indian citizens, particularly unemployment and housing shortages.
"There are approximately three crore minorities in these three countries. As soon as our doors open, huge crowds from these countries will come here. Even if 1.5 crore people come here, who will employ them? Where will they be settled? Why is BJP doing this?" CM Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal proposed an alternative focus on attracting back the substantial number of industrialists and businessmen who had left India in recent years, suggesting that their return could stimulate investment and job creation within the country.
"In the last 10 years, more than 11 lakh big industrialists and businessmen have left India. These people used to run industries in India, do business and provide jobs and employment to lakhs of people. These people left India due to BJP's wrong policy and atrocities. If BJP wants to bring them back, then it should bring these people back. If these people come to India, they will invest in India and our children will get employment," the Delhi Chief Minister said.
He urged the electorate to oppose the BJP if they disagreed with the implementation of the CAA.
On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.
The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants--including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians--who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
